Getting from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to the city

The guitar

• CapMetro's airport stop is on the lower level, just outside baggage claim, and it is marked by a large neon guitar. The transit authority's own description is that you cannot miss it.
• Route 20 Manor Road / Riverside starts here, which means an empty bus and a seat with your luggage.
• Every 15 to 30 minutes, seven days a week.

Where it goes and what it costs

• Along Riverside Drive, into downtown, and on to the University of Texas campus.
• About 35 minutes to downtown.
• 1.25 dollars a single ride, and no surge pricing - which is the airport-transport line worth remembering in a city where the alternative prices itself by demand.
• Tap with a phone or a credit or debit card and the daily fare is capped at two rides, 2.50 dollars. Ride as much as you like after that for nothing.
• MetroRail is separate. Rail needs the Commuter fare, which caps at 7 dollars a service day.

After midnight

• Route 483 Night Owl Riverside starts at the airport and runs from after midnight until 04:00.
• It goes through Montopolis via Riverside Drive and finishes downtown on 6th Street, which is roughly where a late arrival in Austin wants to be.
• Between them, Route 20 and Route 483 cover the clock.

Getting to the events

• Q2 Stadium: Route 20, then transfer to the 1 or the 801.
• Circuit of the Americas: Route 20, then Route 271.
• SXSW: Route 20 downtown or to the Austin Convention Center.
• ACL at Zilker Park: Route 20, then Route 30.

Landing here

• The airport is about 8 km south-east of downtown, on the site of the old Bergstrom Air Force Base, which is why the runways are longer than the passenger numbers need.
• It has grown far faster than its terminal, and the queues at security are the thing regular travellers complain about, not the ground transport.
• There is live music in the terminal. That is not a joke; it is airport policy.